Cool Campus Challenge

10 campuses. 10 years. 1 goal. Carbon Neutral by 2025

It was a nail-biting race to the finish on Thursday, December 10, 2015 when the Cool Campus Challenge came to a close. More than 19,000 University of California students, staff and faculty came together to take action against climate change.

Together, we pledged to take steps that will save over 20 million pounds of greenhouse gas emissions annually. That’s equivalent to each of us taking nearly 2,000 cars off the road for a year!

See the University of California press release announcing our accomplishments and congratulating UC Irvine on officially becoming the Coolest UC campus in 2015.

Some 4,000 UCI faculty, students and staff signed up — nearly 1,000 more than any other campus. Anteaters led the pack early on, and during the final evening of the Challenge had to defend the top spot as other campuses advanced. UCI participants continued to pledge right up until midnight and secured first place.

The UC commitment to carbon neutrality is a daunting goal, and one that can only be achieved by working together. The Challenge marks the beginning of cross-campus engagement among faculty, students and staff toward reaching this goal.

You can read more about the final results here. Below are just some of the highlights from the Challenge at UCI, including winners of our awesome prizes!

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UC Irvine’s legacy of sustainability began when shovel first hit dirt at the dedication of the campus by President Lyndon B. Johnson in 1964. Today, UCI continues to go beyond the classroom to put research to work to improve lives, the community, and the world.